August 22, 2012

Former State Department Official Joins Baker Donelson in D.C.

Baker, Donelson,
Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz has hired a former congresswoman who most
recently served in the U.S. State Department for its federal public policy
group in Washington, the law firm announced on Tuesday.

Former Representative
Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) has stepped down as the State Department's special
envoy for strategic stability and missile defense to serve as a strategic
adviser at Baker Donelson. Tauscher spent seven terms in the U.S. House of
Representatives before joining State in 2009 as under secretary for arms control
and international security affairs, a post she held until she became special
envoy in February.

Tauscher said she
finished everything she wanted to complete at the State Department, noting the
ratification of the New START nuclear arms treaty with Russia. A one-time New
York Stock Exchange member and a former American Stock Exchange officer,
Tauscher said she was "anxious" to return to the private sector.

"It's just a very
exciting time," said Tauscher, who will focus on domestic public policy
issues at Baker Donelson. "I've been an admirer of the firm for a very
long time."

The announcement of
Tauscher's arrival to Baker Donelson came a few weeks after the firm named
Scott Campbell the managing director of its Washington office. The D.C. outpost
has more than three dozen lawyers and advisers, including former Senator Howard
Baker Jr. (R-Tenn.).